Transport is catalyst for growth

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27 July 2011

Public transport plays a crucial role in bringing people together

Transport connects through four building blocks: nation building and social cohesion; poverty eradication and economic growth; human development; and environmental considerations, says Rehana Moosajee.

MMC for transport Rehana Moosajee

WE need to build a cadre of transport activists who are able to understand and articulate the power relations of transport – so says the mayoral committee member for transport in the City, Rehana Moosajee.

In her recent presentation to the newly appointed executive mayor, Parks Tau, she called for more creative thinking regarding transport. "Transport has the potential to be a catalyst for growth through development – especially with a pro-public transport bias," she said.

Moosajee has overseen the construction and smooth running of the Bus Rapid Transit system or Rea Vaya. Some 585 taxis have been removed from Joburg's roads, and replaced by 143 Rea Vaya buses, transporting a million commuters every month, in a collaborative agreement between taxi owners and the City.

The second phase, which will link more suburbs in Soweto to Parktown, is progressing well, and is likely to open in mid-2012.

She explains that "transport connects" by means of four building blocks: nation building and social cohesion; poverty eradication and economic growth; human development; and environmental considerations.

NATION BUILDING

Perhaps the best illustration of nation building was the bringing together of all South Africans using public space and public transport during the football World Cup in 2010.

Social cohesion, and thereby nation building, will be enhanced by using public transport and infrastructure to overcome the spatial legacies of apartheid. The hope is that people from across the class spectrum will use public transport.

When the new routes are opened, people studying and teaching at Wits University and the University of Johannesburg, for instance, will use the buses, broadening the class base of those using public transport.

But it is more than that – it means that people will use public space collectively: waiting on pavements for buses or trains, or collecting in squares for events like the World Cup, after being transported there by buses, or sharing bicycle lanes, which are being planned for Joburg.

This inclusivity extends to people with disabilities, who have easy access to the Rea Vaya buses, which cater fully for them.

POVERTY ERADICATION

Poverty eradication will be encouraged through the local manufacture of buses, vehicles, and bicycles, she says. And these vehicles could be made environmentally friendly by using biofuels or electricity as their means of power.

The maintenance of these vehicles could be undertaken by small local entrepreneurial operations. "We need to manufacture the software and hardware locally, and integrate emerging entrepreneurs," she adds.

There are further possibilities for poverty eradication. "This is an opportunity for JRA [the Johannesburg Roads Agency] to develop a community maintenance model for street sweeping, kerb inlet cleaning, maintenance of roads and signage."

Moosajee is also concerned that public funds are used to build roads and stations but then the private sector cashes in on the benefits of being located close to these facilities. She suggests that the public sector needs to buy parcels of land alongside transport nodes, to "capture the land value".

Another concern is the price of congestion and road crashes. "I don't think that Johannesburg and South Africa understand the impact of crashes and congestion problems on the health system."

A better maintained transport system will mean fewer accidents, and therefore a lot less strain on the health system, as well as less distress on families who often lose their breadwinner.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Public transport will allow greater access to education, health and other amenities. With an innovative suggestion, Moosajee wonders about setting up libraries or e-book readers at stations so that time spent waiting for buses or trains can be used productively for education.

Some 90 000 people use Metrobus buses daily, while 30 000 people use the BRT each day. "It could be useful and productive time."

In addition, Moosajee envisages building a culture of non-motorised transport, where people use bicycles or walk, connecting with one another in a different way, as well as getting exercise and improving their health.

Going hand in hand with this is the idea of closing streets on special days, so that people get on their bikes, or pull on rollerblades, or walk, and use the infrastructure in different ways, to see and experience their cities. A system like this exists in Bogota, Colombia, which is run by volunteers.

"It is a win for social cohesion and health." The idea would be to build roads for people, not just for cars.

She is also concerned that public places like Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication in Kliptown, Soweto is not used sufficiently to encourage social cohesion through community activities.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

And of course, the BRT helps eradicate greenhouse gas emissions, by taking more cars off the roads. These emissions are the second highest contributor to greenhouse gases, after coal burning for electricity generation.

Moosajee suggests alternative freight models, by which she means that we should be looking at using transport less, or using it differently. This could mean that we travel less, working at home more; or telecommuting or video conferencing more; or varying our working hours so that we use public transport in off-peak hours; or delivering documents or small items by bicycle.

"We could create office hubs, where people work in shared spaces closer to where they live.

"There are many other smaller things we could do – we need to change things from the bottom up. This is not rocket science stuff. We need to do things in a more sustainable way."

There are many competing technologies, she points out, and there is a need to confirm what technologies to opt for. "We need to have a conversation with people out there."

Her vision will require "the requisite skills, passion and energy but above all it will require team work, innovative thinking, focus and commitment".

INNOVATIVE IDEAS

Moosajee points to Jaime Lerner, three-times elected the mayor of Curitiba, a city in Brazil. He introduced innovative ideas to tackle the geographic challenges of the city.

As a poor city, Curitiba could not afford the tractors and petrol to mow the parks that he created from converting floodplains surrounding the city. So he introduced sheep to keep the grass short, and used the wool to benefit children.

The city couldn't service the narrow streets with municipal trucks, so he paid residents with groceries and bus tickets in exchange for bags of trash. He did the same with fishermen who complained that the bay was full of trash, making it impossible to catch fish.

After they'd cleared the trash, the fish returned, and so did their livelihood. Clearing the bay would have cost millions. It is such low-cost, innovative solutions that Moosajee wants to encourage in Johannesburg.

She has high hopes for the catalytic effects of transport. "The transport sector in the current term of office has the potential to drive programmes and projects that set the City of Johannesburg on a path of development and growth that is sustainable and to bring bold, innovative practice to the fore."